Rudolph and Isadora, Part 100 – THE END

That night, the moon was full. Darkness settled on the palace like a gentle blanket. Fireflies flew through moonlit fields, and roses bloomed pale and full. A gentle breeze warmed the grounds, smelling like fresh grass and summertime.
     Isadora stepped out onto her balcony, letting the breeze play with the ends of her golden hair and the hem of her silver skirt. She knew Julien was inside, waiting for her. After that first awful night, he had changed completely. He now waited for her. He let her begin their tentative kisses. Her let her decide how far apart they slept in the enormous bed that stood in their room. She glanced back at him, sitting in a large armchair by the fire, reading a book. She liked him best at times like these, when he seemed ungaurded, relaxed, unprincely. He looked up, as if feeling her gaze, and smiled at her in that way of his, the one that had first loosened her heart when it was aching for Quin, the one that revealed his kindness, the one that seemed to say I'll still love you, no matter who you chose, all those months ago.
     "Julien?" she asked, stepping back into the bedroom. "Would you... would you like to go on a walk with me?"
     Standing up and gently taking her hand, he replied, "Of course. I'd love to, Isadora."
     They walked hand in hand through the long corridors out into the garden. Under the star-strewn sky, Isadora and Julien wandered through mazes of flowers, talking softly. Finally, Isadora stopped and faced her husband.
     "Julien, I just wanted to apologize. I'm... I'm so sorry."
     "What for?" he asked.
     "I've been awful to you in the past months. And so... I just wanted to apologize. And perhaps make it up to you somehow."
    "Oh Isadora - my Isadora -" Julien moved to embrace her, but before her could, she rose to her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his. As she pulled away, her cheeks colored, but she took Julien's hands in her own.
     "I love you, Julien."
     Julien opened his mouth as if to respond, but there was nothing more to say. Isadora put her arms around him and said, "I'll meet you inside in a moment, alright?"
     Julien nodded and walked back to the castle. Isadora stood for a moment in the garden, then turned and walked the other direction. She needed a moment to sort out her own feelings. A warm feeling in her chest rose to her throat, making her want to laugh and cry at the same time. She walked around the outskirts of the garden on her way back to the castle, gazing at the open fields surrounding her. She finally reached the main road again, and went to join Julien, but as she walked back, she saw a silhouette near the stables, dark against the full moon. A new stableboy, one whose silhouette made her think of the forest, homemade soup, and lost love.

Post 99

Two months later....

Isadora sat beside Julien at the dining table, her mother and father at the head, tucking into the feast. Julien did not attempt to converse with his wife, for in the last couple of weeks he had noticed her frigidity towards him. It had begun shortly after the wedding, he noticed. Or possibly she despised him all along. Either way, she had had to marry him, because it had been his prize for brining her home after her escape with the stableboy.
And so, Julien was very surprised when Isadora weaved her arm through his as the last course was being taken away by the servants, and the dessert was being carted in. It was a very casual gesture between a husband and wife, but between Julien and Isadora, it was most rare.
In truth, Isadora had begun to warm up to Julien. She had married him against her wishes, for she had loved another, but now that it had been five months since her return, and five months of not seeing Quin, she had decided to make the most of the situation, or in other words, try and be happy.
Isadora took her husband's arm in her own and tangled their fingers together. Julien looked at her with surprise, then his face grew gentle and he gave her hand a slight squeeze.

This isn't so bad, Isadora mused, he is handsome, and he is my husband. Mother and father would never allow me to separate from him, and my heart is no longer shrouded by my love for Quin. I do miss him, and I miss Rudolph as well. But I must learn to love Julien. I must be happy, or I'll... I'll run off again. i won't be able to stand it.


That night Isadora kissed Julien for the first time. In reality, it was the second time they kissed, for the first was at the wedding. But there, Isadora's heart had beat for another, and she had not meant the kiss. Now though, she put effort into it. Mental effort. She really tried to make herself believe she loved Julien.

Julien, sho had been spotted in the company of several young women in the past few months - since he received no love from his wife - returned the kiss with the same urgency, for he wanted to save his marriage. He had fell for Isadora the moment he had seen her, and though she had stayed a distance from him, he never gave up the feeling.

Post ZERO and 1/2

I can't right this next to last post. Not now. I need time. I don't know what to do with SOMEONE. Must tie up loose ends.

Enjoy this in meantime:

Things people have typed into google that led them to this blog.

Post ZERO

Because there are only two posts left, I need time to think about this. My post will be for tomorrow.

Rudolph and Isadora, Part 98

The day of the wedding dawned, gray and wet, but no longer dripping rain from the heavy clouds that surrounded the castle. Isadora cracked open her eyelids, rose, and stretched. She had not been awoken by her lady-in-waiting pulling the curtains back from the grand windows that looked down upon the courtyard and from the glass door that led to her balcony, but although the room was still dim, she knew she could not fall back asleep. Today was the day. As her thoughts began to race, she felt the now-familiar butterflies that seemed to constantly rest in the pit of her stomach begin to wake. She tugged on the silk rope by her bed to call the ladies-in-waiting to her room. As she waited for them, she ran her finger down the beautiful white dress she was to wear that afternoon. It was lovelier than anything she had ever worn before, yet she hesitated to put it on. At the last moment, she pushed the dress away and took out a plain dress the color of a summer sky. The ladies-in-waiting entered and began to arrange her hair and set out the wedding dress, but she refused to let them prepare her for the afternoon. As she slipped into the blue dress instead, she looked out the window, determined to have one last morning to herself.

Part 97

Isadora shrugged out of her formal evening gown. The smooth silk pooled around her feet, and she had to smile, remembering the feeling of the rough burlap Julien had made her wear. Julien. She was to marry the man the next day. A man who had made her wear burlap, had made her leave her friends. 

She tired not to sob, distracting herself by sifting through her dresser for her night clothes. She dressed herself in a thin cotton nightgown before moving over to sit once again on the stone ledge by the window. It was still raining, and Isadora watched as her face, mirrored on the dark glass, began to cry. Her tears became one with the falling rain, and it was beautiful to her. She smiled again, but it was a sad smile. And she cried, scared that she would never smile again like she had with Quin, or with Rudolph so long ago. 

That evening she had dined with the entire royal family. It was necessary, for they would all be present the following day at the wedding, and they were all curious to see who the groom would be, for the royal family was a jealous one, always wanting to be next in line for the most power. Isadora, the only child of her parents, would be Queen someday. And Julien would be King. Isadora shivered then, and now, when she found out and realized Julien would have all that power. And they would have to have children. She dreaded the thought and pushed it from her mind as always.

Dinner had been steamed lamb with vegetables, whole pigs roasted on spits with sliced oranges, and for dessert there were pies the size of wagon wheels, and candied strawberries for the children. 

"Why is it, that after eating the most wonderful foods in the kingdom tonight, I crave Quin's homemade soup?"  Isadora asked her reflection. It stared back, tears staining the cheeks.

Rudolph and Isadora, Part 96

The king had accepted her bargain and she had docilely accepted her betrothal. She went about her daily life, but it was like putting thin gauze over a stab to the heart. She knew she had made the right decision - she couldn't have let Rudolph be locked away - yet she knew she would never be happy as Julien's wife.

***

Across the rain-soaked grounds of the palace, through the grand avenues of the capital, past the bustling city, Rudolph and Alisen lived on the outskirts of town. They were not yet married, nor really settled down, but they neighbors winked when they saw the girl their Rudolph had picked up on his travels, and the rumors said that Rudolph was going to ask the girl to marry him any day – if she didn't ask him first. Although he was prone to staring out the window on some days, he was happy with Alisen, and beginning to see the rest of his life fall into place. He was eighteen, he had a wonderful girl whom he was still in love with, and he was happy. It was time to let the princess go.

Part 95

Three Months Later...

Isadora stood in her room. The walls were covered in intricate tapestries and the floor was a cold white marble. A single dark wood bed stood in the center of the room, gentle curves of white fabric swaddling the bed-poles. There were two rooms like this to the door on her left, filled with clothes and books instead of a bed. But isadora remained in this room, unmoving.
Finally she moved over to the sole window in the room, a tall peaked window that was common along the castle walls. She sat on the stone ledge beside the window and looked out into the rain.
Three months had passed since she had kissed Quin.
Three months had passed since she had been taken from him.
In one day she would be the bride to a man she did not love.

"Darling! You worried us!" Was what Isadora's mother, Queen Isabella, said upon Isadora's return by Julien. Isadora was impressed that her mother had been able to fake happiness. Of course, when Julien had left, Queen Isabella had turned on her daughter with such a rage, Isadora had to step back serveral feet. She caught a few words such as, "...laughing-stock!" and "How could you!" and "You're lucky your father is visiting in the North!".
Isadora did agree on the last point, for her father's temper surpassed that of her mothers. But it wasn't so much the anger of her father that scared her, but his ways of getting back at people.
And so, when he arrived back to the palace three days after her return, and was did speak once to her, Isadora knew something was going to happen.
Sure enough, a month ago, King Ji said to her, "You are to be married in a fortnight. Go to the seamstress and be fitted for a gown." Isadora had been shocked out of her mind. Although the shock lessened and turned to annoyance when she discovered it was Lord Julien who wished for her hand, and had asked for it instead of the great amount of wealth that was to be his reward for her 'capture'.

So now, Isadora watched the rain and dreaded the next day, when she would be tied to a man who she had know for a day, a man she did not love.  She loved Quin. She knew she loved Quin. And that day, that day three months ago was when she found that he loved her as well.
Ah well, she thought, trying to console herself, at least I found out before...I left. At least Rudolph gets to be happy. Of course mother and father did not want him back at the castle, and of course they would have kept him in the dungeon, thrown all the blame on him. But... they didn't because of me. 


Isadora pictured her father again, telling her about the proposal she was to accept.
"Now, Isadora. You will marry him. he is a lord, he is respected, and he did bring you back. He has every right to you." Isadora had felt furious when he had said this.
"No one has a right to me except those whom I choose." She had retorted, icily. It made her father heat up.
"Ah, right. Of course. Of course, how could I forget how you let that filthy stable-boy put his hands all over you. Yes, yes. You have very high standards when it comes to men. No matter, he will be locked away soon forever."
"No, father! Do not punish him! It wasn't his fault!"
"You say he wasn't to blame?"
"No. He was not to blame. It as all me. Please, let him go, back to the woods."
"I don't bargain, daughter."
"But it is a good bargain. You set him free and I will marry Lord Julien, without any complaint."

Part ZERO

Pica, I have plans for EPIC post, will write it 2moro. Hang in there, skipper.

Rudolph and Isadora, Part 94

Isadora sunk her head onto Quin's shoulder and let herself be held in his firm arms, blissfully drowning out the world in her own happiness. She was with Quin again, and he was alright, and Rudolph was alive - although she tried not to think much of Rudolph - and Quin loved her, and Quin had kissed her and she was in love with him, in love with the world.
     But then she was ripped from her bliss by a rough hand that tore her from Quin's arms and threw her onto a horse. Jumping up behind her, the royal guard spurred the horse on, toward the cold and forbidding palace where all emotion was drained and restrained to subtle glances and tilts of a fan, away from Quin, away from love.